Tearing Down Walls (Love Under Construction Series Book 2) (38 page)

The doorbell rang later in the day and Laura tiptoed to the door, then looked through the peephole. She couldn’t see anything except flowers – what the hell? Then the flowers moved aside and she saw a dark-haired woman standing there. She opened the door and the woman said, “Delivery for Laura?”

“That’s me!” Laura reached for the vase the woman handed to her, and she was excited. The flowers were beautiful, and the arrangement was huge. “Thanks so much,” she said, almost in shock.

“Enjoy them!” As the woman left, Laura recognized the van sporting the name “The Passionate Pansy” in big, colorful graphics – the shop in Louisville where Nikki had worked when she and Tony got together. They’d come all the way to Molly’s to bring the flowers. Setting the vase down, she pulled the tiny card off the pick, opened the envelope, and read the message.

I hope it won’t be much longer . . .

She smiled. She’d never gotten flowers before. Looking at the mass of colorful blooms, she was thrilled that someone thought enough of her, wanted to please her enough, that they’d go to the trouble to call in an order and have something that gorgeous sent to her. What was she supposed to do now? Then it occurred to her:
Say “thank you,” idiot!
She pulled up her text app and sent a simple message:
Thanks. They’re beautiful.

Her phone rang almost immediately. “You’re very welcome,” Vic’s smooth, deep voice purred into the phone, and Laura felt a clenching below her navel, an almost painful tightening. It both scared and thrilled her at the same time. “I know it’s hard to just stay locked up there in the house, and I wanted to bring some of the outdoors inside to you.”

“You succeeded at that. They’re very colorful and bright, so thanks.”

“I meant what I said on the card.” Vic waited, wondering how she’d respond.

“Yeah, and nobody hopes that more than me!” Laura laughed, and Vic was relieved. She sounded cheerful for the moment, and that was the real reason he’d sent them.

He laughed at her. “Just enjoy them. And would you . . .”

“Think of you? Yeah, every time I look at them,” she said, and Vic’s heart leaped and pirouetted. That was far more than he’d hoped to accomplish.

“Thanks. So I’ll call you later? I’ve got to go thump some concrete finishers’ heads.”

“Sure. Talk to you later,” Laura said. She hit END and laid the phone down, running her hands up the stems, letting the petals float weightlessly across her palms, and burying her nose in their delicate fragrance.

Standing there at the jobsite, Vic put his phone back in his pocket and smiled to himself. It might be small, but it was a little victory. If they could just get this business with Wagner behind her, maybe they could move forward.

“I got an interesting call from my guy on the inside,” Peyton told Steve and the rest of the team.

“Yeah?” Steve asked.

“There were dozens of files on Wagner.”

“What does that mean?” José asked.

“It means that there were more than just Laura, quite a few more incidents they’d managed to link to him. And when he knew they were onto him, that’s when he got violent. Turns out everybody who claimed to be a witness to the things he’s done is dead. I don’t think that’s coincidental, and I told my contact so. But it looks like he’s escalating and, if that’s the case, she’s in more danger than we ever dreamed. Bottom line: There’s no telling how many other soldiers he did something to like what he did to Laura.”

“So if she had come forward . . .” Steve started.

“It would never have come to military trial. He would’ve killed every one of the witnesses, like he’s almost accomplished here.” Peyton shook his head.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Steve said, thumbing through his notes. “I have no idea which direction to go now. I guess we sit tight and wait to see what his next move is.”

Wendy chimed in. “The police departments in Jefferson County are reporting a spike in stolen cars. The ones they’ve recovered had plates that were stolen and switched out. I’m sure it’s him. I’ve let all of them know about what’s going on here.”

“Good job, darlin’,” Steve said. “In the meantime, I think she’s safe right where she is.”

T
he wildly-growing spring grass was calling to Laura’s bare feet, and she needed the sun on her face. Molly was good to her, but she was tired of being locked in the house. What good was it to be alive if she was locked up and miserable?

Vic called a couple of times a day. He told her about the projects he was working on, especially Tony and Nikki’s facility. In his thinking, if ever there was going to be anything between them, then the more she knew about his work, the better. It was the one thing he’d had to hang onto over the years, and it had become such a part of his identity that he doubted he could survive if he couldn’t work anymore.

Wagner was being quiet, and it made everyone nervous to know that he was sitting out there, no doubt watching them and plotting his next move. Wendy reported that the stolen car situation was continuing. No one seemed to be able to spot him, but they knew he was out there, waiting to strike.

In the meantime, Laura was getting increasingly wound up from being stuck inside. She knew exactly what she was doing on that late March morning when she called Nikki. “Hey, sweetie, how are you?” Nikki sing-songed into the phone. “You doing okay over at Molly’s?”

“Yeah, I’m doing okay.”
That’s a lie. I’m miserable.
“I was wondering if we could go shopping today,” Laura asked, twisting a strand of hair.

One of Nikki’s eyebrows shot up. “Go shopping? Honey, I don’t think we’re supposed to do that.”

“I talked to Steve. He said Wagner’s been quiet, so if you brought one of your other cars and took me away from Lexington, we could go shopping in Frankfort. So please?”

“Let me shower and dress and I’ll call you back. Talk to you in a bit,” Nikki said, hanging up. She looked across the bed. Tony was still lying there, stretching after the two hour fuckathon they’d just finished, and he looked sexier than before they’d started.

“Hey, sexpot, get your hot ass back over here against me right now,” he growled at her. She had a funny look on her face; Tony caught it and asked her, “What’s wrong, baby?”

“That was Laura,” Nikki said, her expression pensive. “She said Steve told her she could go shopping today in Frankfort if I drove one of our cars that Wagner’s never seen so he won’t know it’s us. Do you think Steve would’ve told her that?”

“I wouldn’t think so. I’ll call him.” But Steve didn’t answer. “Must be in a meeting or something. I can’t believe Laura would lie about that, though. She knows how dangerous that would be. But I’d feel better if I talked to Steve first.”

“Okay.” She stopped for a minute, then said, “Do you think he’s smart enough to recognize one of our cars?”

“I have no idea, but I don’t like the idea of you being out with her. I care about Laura, but I love you, and I don’t want you in any danger.”

“I know, baby. I respect that. If Steve doesn’t call back while I’m in the shower, I’ll have to make some kind of decision, tell her something,” Nikki said, heading for the bathroom.

When she came out thirty minutes later, her head wrapped in a towel, she asked, “Has Steve . . .”

“Nope. So what do you think? I don’t really want you to go, but . . .”

“I’ll be fine, I’m sure. It makes sense, taking one of our other cars and going to Frankfort. She can’t stay cooped up forever, right?” She toweled her hair a bit, then said, “I’ll call her back and tell her I’ll be there in a little while. Take the Beemer?”

Tony nodded. “Yeah. That would be a good choice, I think.”

In a little less than two hours, Nikki was at Molly’s to pick up Laura. As she drove back toward Frankfort, it was obvious to her that Laura was beyond thrilled to be out of the house.
Maybe this was a good idea after all,
she thought.

Wagner watched the black BMW convertible pull into Molly’s driveway. Laura came out, and they drove away.
Doesn’t matter where they go,
he thought,
because I can find them wherever they are, stupid bitches.
After they’d gone out of sight, he pulled out in the stolen Rav 4 and headed in the direction the blip told him to go.

“This is the day,” he said aloud to himself. “Billings is toast.”

“Hi! Having a good day?” Vic asked Laura when she answered the phone.

“Yeah. It’s turning out to be a good one,” Laura told him, trying to hide her trepidation. If he found out what she was doing, he’d be pissed.

Vic listened, and he didn’t like the sounds he heard in the background. It sounded like a radio and maybe . . . road noise? He groaned out a tenuous, “Laura, where are you?”

“Um, I’m with Nikki.”

Yep – she was hiding something. “No, I mean physically, where are you?” He waited. “Laura? You’d better . . .”

“I’m about five minutes outside Frankfort.”

“What the hell . . .” Vic could feel his pulse throbbing in his temples.

“I had to get out of the house, okay? Nikki came and picked me up in the Beemer. Don’t be mad, please.”

“Put Nikki on the phone.”

“But, Vic, I . . .”

“I SAID PUT NIKKI ON THE DAMN PHONE.” It was clear that Vic meant business, so she handed the phone to Nikki.

“Vic wants to talk to you,” a sheepish Laura said.

Oh, this can’t be good,
Nikki thought as she took the phone. “Hey, hon! I shouldn’t be talking on the phone and driving, so . . .”

“What in the HELL do you think you’re doing?” Vic yelled into the phone.

Nikki was taken aback; he’d never talked to her like that. “Well, Laura said Steve told her . . .”

“Put the damn phone on speaker. Now.” Vic was so mad that he was trembling.

“Okay,” Nikki told him, bracing herself. Then he could hear road noise, and the radio volume went down.

“Both of you hear me okay?” he asked. There was a duet of voices telling him yes. “Before I lose my cool, I want to know: Nikki, does Tony know where you are?”

“Yes,” she was quick to answer. “Laura told me that Steve said it would be okay if we used one of our cars and went somewhere outside Lexington. And Tony tried to call Steve to ask him, but . . .”

Vic interrupted her. “Laura, did you lie to Nikki?”

There was a long pause as Laura tried to decide what to say while Nikki glared at her from the driver’s seat. “Um, well, it wouldn’t have been a lie if I’d gotten a chance to talk to Steve, but he wasn’t answering his . . .”

“Do you have any idea how much trouble you’re in, little one? And not from just me, from Steve, and Tony, and I’m guessing Nikki too.”

Laura looked over at Nikki, and the blond tigress was giving her
il malocchio
and trying to drive at the same time. “Um, yeah. I guess so. But you have to understand, I . . .”

“I don’t want to hear it. You’ve not only put yourself in danger, you’ve put Nikki at risk too, and that wasn’t fair. She’s tried to be a friend to you, and you did this to her? Laura, I swear . . .”

“I’m sorry! I just couldn’t stand it anymore! Please don’t get mad at me, okay?” she cried out.